“Love you, too, squirt.” He hangs up in time to miss the moment when my tears spill over. Maybe because I already know mine is in trouble.
I’m still groggy from the melatonin I took earlier. After lying in a sodden heap on the couch for a little while, I get up to make tea. I’ve no sooner filled my electric kettle when my phone goes off again. It’s another FaceTime request, this one from Cara.
“Thanks, I hate this,” I grumble, but I accept the call anyway. I could use a friend.
Cara’s face pops up on the screen. As soon as she sees me, her eyes bulge. “Oh my God, you had sex!” she screeches.
Traitorous face. Absolute narc of a face.
“W-what? No. What are you talking about?” I reach up to grab the handle of my cabinet and miss it twice.
“You did it! You slept with him!” She pumps her arm in the air. “Was it good? No, don’t tell me, let me guess.”
“There’s nothing to guess about,” I grumble. I finally manage to open the cabinet drawer and nearly fumble a mug.
“No, no, I’m good at this. One sec.” Cara props her phone up so that both her hands are free. She holds her palms in front of her, about six inches apart.
“What are you…?”
She wiggles her eyebrows and moves her palms apart by half an inch.
“No. I’m not playing this game.” I scrounge up a teabag from the depths of the drawer.
She moves her hands apart in tiny increments. “Warmer?”
“Oh, my God, Cara, I’m not…”
“Now?”
“No!”
“Now?”
“Cara…”
“I must be getting close.”
I glare at her as her smile widens.
“You’re beet red, Remy. I know I’m right.”
I sigh. “You’re the worst.”
“But am I right?”
“...a little farther.”
“Holy shit!” Cara bursts out laughing and topples out of the frame. I hate that she’s enjoying this so much. Her manic cackling echoes through the speakers. “Girl, that man has you on the hook. You’re DONE.”
That lands somewhere uncomfortably close to the truth.
“It was a mistake,” I offer, somewhat halfheartedly. “A one-time thing.”
Cara’s head pops back into view. “Sure, sure.”
“I’m serious!”
“What does this mean for your job?”
